As part of his sentence, Lloyd Lewin agreed to pay restitution to other victims of uncharged incidents involving similar allegations.

Lewin isn't the first young adult in Juneau to have a parent turn them in to police.

Last week, 19-year-old Ryan Griffin was sentenced to a year in prison for breaking into two homes and stealing various items including a car, a video camera and several handguns.

According to court records, Griffin's mother called police after she found the stolen handguns in her son's room. The police's subsequent investigation nabbed Griffin and an accomplice, whose image was found on the stolen video camera's memory card.

Juneau Police Sgt. David Campbell said his department doesn't keep statistics on how often parents report crimes committed by their children, but said "it happens often enough to where it's not unusual."

"Sometimes parents find themselves in a situation where they feel like they might have lost control of their kids," Campbell said.

He added that involving the criminal justice system can be "a good wake up call" for teenagers and young adults who are getting into trouble.

A 2007 state study found that felons between the age of 17 and 24 had the highest rate of recidivism of any age group.

Campbell said the earlier criminal activity is addressed the better.

"If that's a lesson they can learn earlier in life as opposed to later in life, they are better off for it," Campbell said.

A similar idea was echoed by Superior Court Judge Philip Pallenberg at Lewin's sentencing.

"There's no reason you can't learn from these things and do better from here on out," the judge told Lewin.